Well, that was a bust, I thought as I stepped out into the darkening street. The sun was almost behind the buildings, and lamps lining the street were taking up the slack of illuminating the street in the waning sunlight. Those street lamps made it possible for Southport to have an active nightlife, unlike many other cities, which practically shut down when the sun set. That was partly thanks to the abundant light crystals found throughout the Evergloom dungeon, which were one of the few minable resources the dungeon offered. Evergloom was probably the oldest and most well-known of the three current dungeons surrounding Southport. The other two are the Shipwreck, named after the fact that its entrance is just off the shore of Shipwreck Cove, and The Gemstone Depths, which was named after the fact that each floor had a featured gemstone that could be minded.

Of the three, the Shipwreck was probably the most traditional, with each of its seven floors being mostly interconnected rooms themed after the monster inhabiting it. The monster mix was perhaps the most eclectic of the three; from the reports it had sent Gem, it seems the DI had decided to use the Kitchen Sink approach when it created its monsters. It had everything from Giant Spiders to Fire Elements to a Manticore as its dungeon boss and everything in between. Some of that could be attributed to its relative youth of about four centuries, the youngest of the three dungeons, and trying to find its niche.

If the Shipwreck was the youngest and the Evergloom was the oldest, then the Gemstone Depths was the middle child of the three dungeons. Having formed just under a millennia ago and had settled into its niche of being an abundant source of gemstones nicely, to the point that, along with the Docks, the gemstones mined in the dungeon made up a good portion of Southports' economy. Each floor was themed after the gemstone that could be found on it; for instance, the second floor, which most delvers called the Ruby Floor because of the rubies that could be found there, had a fire cavern theme, with the floor boss being a level 6 Fire Elemental. In contrast, the seventh floor, or Saphire Floor, had a water theme, with most of the floor being a gigantic lake with a Giant Squid as the floor boss that roamed the floor without restriction.

Evergloom, the oldest of the three, was probably the most unique. Unlike the other two, which had different themes based on the floor or room, Evergloom had a cohesive theme of a dark and foreboding forest throughout. Each floor was designed to add to the atmosphere of the place and from the stores. Dad and Jake had told me it was probably one of the most spooky dungeons on the content. The main monsters are undead and spirits, with a level 300 Elder Spirit as its final boss. Of course, no one knew that because the DI had a novel expansion policy: whenever a delving party looks like they’re going to defeat the current final floor’s boss, it just opens the way to the next floor, having the predictable result that no one, at least no one who didn’t have Admin Level access to the System, knew what the final boss of the dungeon was.

When I read that, I almost fell on the floor laughing. It was ingenious. With the singular theme, the dungeon could have become monotonous and boring after a while, causing delvers to go elsewhere. However, the mystery it had created kept Delvers interested and competing to see who would reach the final floor first. But I could also see how it could be frustrating to some delivers: having fought all the way to what they believed was the final floor and defeating what you thought was the dungeon’s final boss only to be rewarded with a new floor. Thankfully, Evergloom’s DI had taken that into account as well and offered any group that defeated the boss and opened the next floor the standard end-of-dungeon reward chest.

< Actually, that was more due to Katherine's influence than anything else> Gem interjected, having been skimming my thoughts. After the last eight years, I had gotten used to it, and it barely fazed me.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Gem commented.

was my simple reply.

The light crystals were one of the main components of the dungeon that gave it its early feeling. While in the dungeon, they produce a dim, sickly light that, combined with the everpresent fog, made navigating the dungeon harder than expected. You could easily lose your way and end up lost. However, when those light crystals were removed from the influence of the dungeon, they began glowing a bright white, providing a large area with light when in pick black. The only problem was that there was no way to turn them off, which was mitigated by the fact that the crystals seemed to have an almost inexcusable light source.

With that in mind, Southport’s city council decided to buy a generous supply of crystals and line all the main thoroughfares with them. From what Mom had said, they even had a little competition among the local artisans to create the lampposts in which the crystals would be placed. The winning design had been a hexagonal housing made of glass panels caped by an ornately pointed metal cap that sat atop a long pole. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought the designer had taken inspiration from the lamppost designed on the world the System created came from during what had been called the Victorian era. Of course, there had been cases of theft, and some of the crystals have been broken for various reasons over the past century, but the vast majority were the same ones that had been put in when the lamppost was crafted.

Gem asked a few moments later as I watched the sun disappear behind the buildings.

I replied. . Most of the inns I had visited had already filled up for the night or, in some cases, were just too expensive for my tastes. I mean, a single gold for one night was a little much, and that price didn’t include any meals. The same price would have bought you ten nights at the inn in Forestend and included breakfast and dinner.

Gem quips, and I send her the mental equivalent of a dirty look. As I make my way down the street to the docks.